Residents Sleep 4 Hours in 28 Hour Shift

The road to becoming a doctor is a long one.  After undergraduate studies and medical school, a prospective doctor must complete a residency, or a sort of hands-on training at a hospital for a couple of years before they are worth their salt.  A residency includes a salary of about $35,000 a year, and demands long hours at a hospital.  I interviewed Sachin Gupta, a second year resident, whose opinions about his residency corroborate that residents work very long hours, get little rest, and definitely have to have a passion for what they do to keep at it.  First, let’s delve into the controversy: residents are often subjected to long work hours where they are constantly on-call always moving around in the hospital.  The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) now limits the work week to no more than 80 hours.  Still, this is a lot of work; especially for people who need to be coherent to make sound decisions for the well-being of patients.  Many studies have proven that sleep deprivation is the leading cause of medical errors.  Doctors cannot afford to make careless mistakes!  Dr. Gupta talks about the long 28 hour shifts he has at the hospital where he will get about 4 hours of sleep; but still has to balance family.
       

       In the journal for the Public Library of Science (PloS), a study was conducted where first year medical residents were questioned about their sleep and work schedule.  The results showed that “when residents reported working five marathon shifts in a single month, their risk of making a fatigue-related mistake that harmed a patient increased by 700%” (USA Today 12/11/2006).  Let’s be clear: I am not arguing that residents are a danger to patients.  I am presenting the reality that being a medical resident is grueling work.  Dr. Gupta discussed the easiest thing about being a resident: “always having back-up [and] being able to talk to your attending if you have any questions.”  His answer suggests that he is being polite; but also suggests that as a resident, he will continuously need questions answered and there is always something new to learn.  Residents are always learning and always have access to help.   Dr. Gupta is passionate about medicine; he admits that he always wanted to be a doctor. 

         Residents may or may not get their 4 hours of sleep during their 28 hour shift. Another resident, Himabindu Manneri is in her third year and shares the same opinion when it comes to the work load and lack of sleep. Dr. Manneri states she gets an average of “2-4 hours of sleep” and insists that the hardest thing about being a resident is the time away from her family. One can deduce that with the residents’ salary, workload, and lack of sleep, one has to be passionate about medicine to endure this.

Hispanic Radio is More Prevalent than Radio for the Ethnic Majority

    Ethnic radio continues to thrive in the Washington, DC area because of immigration—especially from Spanish-speaking countries. In 2010, Washington, DC’s population was that of about 600,000. Of that number, 50.7% is African American, 38.5% Caucasian, 9.1% Hispanic, and 3.5% Asian. Interestingly enough there are more African Americans in the DC area than any other ethnicity, yet there are more ethnic radio stations for the Hispanic population. Consider the conflicting statistics and presence of Hispanic radio; why are there more Hispanic radio stations than those for African Americans? I interviewed UMD student, Mariel Rothman who found that there were so many Hispanic radio stations, yet it was difficult to determine why.

listen to ‘Mariel Rothman Ethnic Radio’ on Audioboo

    One must consider that African Americans can listen to any of the English-speaking radio stations assuming that they speak English. On the other hand, many Spanish speaking people are either not proficient in English or do not speak it altogether. So, Hispanic radio is necessary for the language barrier that exists between the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking ethnicities. Also, Hispanic radio provides a sense of community.

    Mariel Rothman’s blog post about ethnic radio discusses the growth of our Hispanic population and their attempt at communalizing themselves with their own radio stations. Rothman states, “[ethnic radio] promotes events that bring people of the same culture together and [help them to] share information that pertains to Spanish-speaking individuals.” It is important to note that not all Hispanic radio stations only air in Spanish, some just provide a sense of community. Rothman even grew to like some of the Hispanic radio stations, although she is an English-speaking Caucasian.

listen to ‘Mariel Rothman’ on Audioboo

    Ethnic radio is necessary. It can be the glue that brings one’s ethnic community closer, but it is not always confined to the ethnic group for which it was intended. Although there are more African Americans than Hispanics, there are clearly more radio stations catering to the Hispanic population. Hispanic radio is not proportionate to the Hispanic population. This anomaly cannot be explained, yet people are always welcome to listen to whatever radio station they please—whether within or outside their ethnic group.

The Unethical Controversy of Henrietta Lacks' Immortal Cells

      The story of Henrietta Lacks is science ethics at its most important example and violation. Henrietta Lacks’ African American heritage and being in the lower class of society played a huge role in what happened to her. Lacks’ “immortal cells” were taken from her during treatment of a tumor. Dr. Lawrence Wharton Jr. retrieved the samples of cells without her permission. It was common that many of the doctors used samples from poorer patients who visited public facilities. The samples were usually taken without the patients’ knowledge or consent. In fact, many “scientists believed that since patients were treated for free in the public wards, it was fair to use them as research subjects as a form of payment” (Skloot 30). But, the question is: Was this the right thing to do? Although, HeLa has contributed to the polio vaccine, and research in cancer and AIDS, is it worth violating someone’s natural right to know what their doctor is doing to their body (or with their body)? 

     What makes HeLa so unique is that the cells can multiply rapidly. HeLa breaks all conformities of what a normal cell should be and how it should act. The cells were like a needle in a haystack. Dr. George Gey, the doctor who was given the cells had been looking for “immortal cells” for a very long time. Henrietta Lacks’ cells were very valuable and had been long sought after; but, the fate of her family is not reflective of Lacks’ medical contributions. Lacks’ family were unaware that Henrietta’s cells were being used. Johns Hopkins’ Hospital was charitable to the lower class, but at what price? Hopkins’ once studied black children’s blood for a “genetic predisposition to criminal behavior” (Skloot 167). Also, two black women sued Hopkins’ for their knowing that their children had been exposed to lead, but failed to inform them because they wanted to continue a study of lead abatement methods. However, what remains the most controversial and most wronged of those researched was Henrietta Lacks whose family remained in poverty after her death. 

    

listen to ‘HeLa with May Wildman’ on Audioboo

I interviewed May Wildman, a reporter for University of Maryland's Diamondback who attended a recent event where Henrietta Lacks' son, David "Sonny" Lacks was a speaker. She informed me that the family has yet to receive compensation. The most they have gotten is a statue in a lobby at Johns Hopkins.

listen to ‘Hospital Perspective’ on Audioboo

In a second interview, I spoke with a manager at a family care office at Providence Hospital in Washington DC, Teresa Yeager. She informed me that in her office, as is required by law, a patient must sign a consent for their doctor to release or use any of their samples or information. Also, I explained Henrietta Lacks' story, and asked for an opinion about the ordeal. Like many people, Ms. Yeager was surprised to find out that someone's cells were used without their permission; and after Henrietta passed her family remained poor. 

     Today, it is baffling that nothing has been done to give the Lacks family compensation. It is saddening that Henrietta Lacks' cells were taken; it is saddening that she passed away; it is saddening that her cells were used for research; but most of all, it is saddening that it has been 60 years and nothing has been done to attempt to rectify the ethical violation of Henrietta Lacks. (Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Random House, 2010.)